After the completion of the Southern Conference men’s soccer regular season, all eyes were on the conference tournament. Six SoCon teams headed to Greensboro, N.C., and Johnson City, Tenn. to fight for the conference title and, thus, an automatic bid into the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship.
The fourth-seeded Dins began their quest for glory on Friday, Nov. 8 against the fifth-seeded Mercer Bears. The Paladins, who lost to Mercer in last year’s SoCon championship match, sought revenge as they traveled to Greensboro, N.C. for the matchup.
After the kick-off whistle, Mercer dominated time of possession and took three early shots. However, sophomore goalkeeper Aaron Salinas turned the Bears away empty-handed. The tie was broken in the 20th minute when a header from Greenville native and freshman standout forward Wilfer Bustamante found the back of the net. Assists on the goal were credited to senior captain Christian Kraus and junior midfielder Lloyd Wamu Snell as Furman took the 1-0 lead.
Later in the first half, the Furman lead doubled when Wamu Snell put his name in the stat sheet again, this time finding the back of the net for himself. Following a pass from freshman midfielder Luke Hutzell, Wamu Snell took a couple of touches before firing a shot into the right corner of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
The Dins were up 2-0 heading into the half and never looked back. The Paladin defense became impenetrable in the second half and held Mercer scoreless en route to a 2-0 victory and a spot in the semifinal contest.
The semifinal match took place on Sunday, Nov. 10 against the top seed and tournament host, UNC Greensboro Spartans. The Spartans jumped out to a first-half lead in the 26th minute when junior defender Sami Lachekar put UNCG up 1-0.
Despite multiple scoring opportunities, the scoreboard remained the same for the majority of the game. Just when all hope seemed to be slipping away, an 81st-minute red card on the Spartans gave the Paladins the break they needed. UNCG had to play the final 10 minutes of the game with 10 men against Furman’s 11 following the disqualification.
These last minutes had Spartan fans holding their breath as Furman had chance after chance to equalize the score at 1-1. The Spartan defense did the best they could and held out for over nine minutes when Furman scored with nine seconds remaining to send the match into overtime. Freshman goal scorer Hutzell proved why he deserves a starting spot in the midfield once again. The ball bounced around the box after multiple Spartans and Paladins knocked it back and forth. After Hutzell found the ball at his feet, the ball made it through the carnage on the field and into the goal for the equalizer. The goal was the first of Hutzell’s Paladin career and gave Furman all the momentum to win in overtime.
Collegiate overtime rules consist of two 10-minute periods played as “golden goal,” meaning that the first team to score wins the game. Still down a man, UNCG was forced to play defensively and force the game in a penalty shootout that followed the two overtimes. To UNCG’s pleasure, this is exactly how the match played out as Furman failed to score in either overtime period, and a penalty shootout was needed to break the tie.
UNCG shot first, goal, 1-0. Furman responded, 1-1.
UNCG again, saved by Salinas. Furman misses off the crossbar, score stays 1-1.
UNCG goal, 2-1. Furman goal, tied up again, 2-2.
UNCG scores again, 3-2. Furman answered, 3-3.
UNCG goal, 4-3. Furman to force sudden death, goal, 4-4.
UNCG goal, 5-4. Furman goal, 5-5 heading to round seven.
UNCG misses, Salinas saves another one. Furman to win and for a spot in the championship match, goal.
The Conference Championship game was held on Sunday, Nov. 17 in Johnson City, Tenn. at the home of the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers. The Buccaneers came into the tournament as the second seed and having defeated the Wofford Terriers to clinch their spot in the championship game.
The game began in dream-like fashion for the Paladins, who scored within four minutes of the game. After the ball was knocked around inside the box, Bustamante found Kraus, who netted his sixth goal of the season.
Stellar defensive play throughout the first half had the Dins up 1-0 at the end of the first half. The score did not change until the 70th minute when sophomore midfielder Caleb Johnson sealed the game with his second goal of the year.
With the game 2-0 in favor of the Paladins, ETSU were desperate to try and pull their way back into the game, but SoCon Goalkeeper of the Year Salinas made that a vain effort as he notched his fifth clean sheet of the year.
With the tournament win, the Paladins won their 15th conference title and their first one since 2018. The championship victory also comes with a spot in the NCAA DI Men’s Soccer Tournament and a chance to compete for an NCAA National Championship.
The Dins will begin their tournament run in Chapel Hill, N.C. against the UNC Tar Heels. The game will take place on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 5 p.m. with the winner facing off against the 11th-ranked Marshall Thundering Herd on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.
